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DIY: Glitter Nail VarnishI saw a lovely glitter nail varnish in the chemist the other day, £4.99 it was. I looked at it and thought that I could make it a home for a lot less! -And that is exactly what I have done. :)So here is a quick and affordable tutorial to make this awesome glitter nail varnish. I used things I already had laying around the house so this was complete
Give the 'wow' factor back to a old and forgotten pair of heels. Don't we all have a pair somewhere; a pair of shoes that we no longer wear but we have clung onto anyway? I know I do... And now I have found a way to restore them, giving them new life. An affordable technique allowing me to wear shoes until every drop of life has been used up. -What could be better than that? What you will nee
In the past I have made many carrot cakes but it is only recently that I have made the little icing carrots on top. Now I look back on my previous ventures with my unrecognisable cakes and think "why didn't I just add these signature little things on top?" -Maybe because they are so expensive to buy... But now that I have made them once I will never go back to bare ca
This is, in my opinion, the perfect cake for spring. Maybe because the supermarkets are packing away their chocolate eggs and are now promoting home grown herbs. I am very excited to get growing things! -Already planted up some tomatos and some lavender. So, for a inspiring start to lots of home grown treats we have a tasty and pleasantly nutty recipe for carrot cake.
This is a great easter surprise as you get to experiment with the nature in your garden and make a imprint on an egg. The whole process feels very home grown and organic which is always a feel good factor. Fun traditional eggs ready for easter! What you will need (per egg): Muslin clothHair band/ elastic bandPale coloured eggNature, something small such as flowers a
Foodie Pen Pal 2/13.I was sent a wonderful parcel from Maddy in the month of February. It was full of tasty treats for me to bake with. (Hurray!) My first item was a bag of 'The Food Doctor: Wholesome Spicy Seed & Nut Blend', I think it might go into a healthy stir-fry... Then maybe top that meal with some Bea's of bloomsbury salted caramel which I also got in my parcel. Wh
Gooey chocolate brownies with crunchy, colourful chocolate beans! Colourful Fudge Brownies.Ingredients250g unsalted butter (room temp.)200g milk chocolate80g cocoa powder65g plain flour360g caster sugar4 large eggs (beaten)100g Chocolate beansColoured sprinkles to decorate 4tbsp waterPreheat the oven to 180 C/ Gas 4 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.Break up your chocola
Heart shaped milk chocolates with a white chocolate drizzle. You will need: 200g milk chocolate100g white chocolateA heart mould/ ice cube trayHow to make them: Break up the white chocolate and melt in the microwave. Stir your chocolate to make sure it is smooth and then drizzle it across the mould. In a new bowl break up the milk chocolate and melt in the microwave.
What a surprise I had this month with my tasty parcel coming all the way from Sweden! It was filled with a fantastic selection of local produce for me to try, my favorite being this smoked salt. I had never even heard of this before but it is the best salt I have ever experienced. Ever. The smell is quite a shock to the senses as when you open it a strong waft of charcoal is re
The ideal Valentines day cake! Rose flavoured loaf cake decorated with a sweet pink drizzle. This recipe is very similar to that of a lemon drizzle cake and has that yummy, sticky glaze we all know and love. -The tasty twist being that this is hardens into little pink sugar crystals filling you with a floral sensation. You will need...For the cake: 125g butter (room temper
Zesty, crunchy and oh so tasty! Ingredients: 125g Soft Butter 40g White Caster Sugar 40g Soft Brown Sugar 2 teaspoon Lemon Essence 100g Crushed meringue 175g Self Raising FlourYou can
Plain Old Butter Icing. The basic building block for butter icing: A simple vanilla. Then, after mastering the texture and ratio of butter to icing sugar, you can chop and change it. Make your own creations, go crazy!But alas we start at the beginning, this recipe makes enough to cover and fill an average cake.You will need: 100g butter250g icing sugar 1tsp vanilla essenceNow t
Win A Bag Of Edible Lavender Flowers! And who won our Christmas Competition?Win a lovely bag of edible dried lavender flowers! (This being a subtle hint of our next competition's theme.)We are accepting submissions for the January competition now. Go, go, go!Dates for JanuaryDeadline for submissions:Thursday 31st January 2013Reveal date:Thur
Messy messy mess mess are these brownies, but yet so good! You know it's good when your willing to go through a sticky face and finger situation. I suppose when compared to other things these aren't that bad, maybe on par with very sugary doughnuts. The mess can be reduced by applying less of a golden syrup glaze... but where is the fun in that?So dive into this soft moist brownie packed
Colourful confetti cakes but with an exciting twist! These fizzy firework cupcakes really go out with a bang, so they where perfect for bonfire night. They also pop and snap when you eat them which is lots and lots of fun! The only thing that could make watching fireworks any more fun is to accompany the festivity with cake. Mind you, that is my view on most things...I personal
Foodie Penpal, October review.So what did I send out in the name of foodie pen pals this month? A plastic spider and a toy rat of course! A very festive themed box was sent away to Elaine in the month of October in preparation for what turned out to be a very pleasant halloween. First into the box went some frankenstein fancies from Mr.&n
I was talking to someone last Monday about pumpkin carving and they said that after they carve their pumpkin they just throw the insides away. Well I can hope at the very least they ment throw into their compost heap but turning the insides into something delicious is all part of the fun! Isn't it? Last year I made a pumpkin pie and when I was little my mother used to make pump
These are much more graphic than anything I have ever done before, but it is halloween and that is what it is all about! Food that looks grotesque but actually tastes rather pleasant. Under the splattered food dye there is actually a tasty, crisp and nutty biscuit. The finger nail is made from almonds and to compliment that, the whole biscuit is infused with almond es
A white chocolate and orange blossom ganache coated in chocolate. The orange blossom part makes them sound rather soft and friendly for a halloween truffle, but I assure you they are very scary. I think that the bright orange center is rather scary on it's own...Blue sprinkles are good for these truffles as they will compliment the orange and make it seem all the more bright and festive.
FEATURED. 09/12First I would like to say thank you to everyone that emailed me a wonderful recipe this month and I really do hope that you will continue to send them in later months. For all you that were unaware: The Higley Kitchen has been taking in recipes all through last month in hope to find September's featured recipe. Our favourite recipe is baked, photographed, then posted here and
September Foodie Pen Pals.I can't believe it is already time to document my second foodie penpal parcel! I had so much fun with Last Month (which was my first attempt) I couldn't resist doing it again. Foodie PenPals is a circle of food loving people who send boxes of food to each other.Every month you are given a person to send a box of interesting food to and then someone different sends yo
Cream Tea Cupcakes are very similar to my Butterfly Cakes Post; if you have any questions regarding the icing of these tasty treats you will find your answers there.For the icing it is important to get it nice and thick so that the finished cake looks like it has dollops of clotted cream on it. Mmmm....Cream Tea Cupcakes. The Cake100g unsalted butter100g caster sugar2 eggs100g self –rais
I have wanted to make coconut cookies for a while now but never found a recipe sweet enough or that had a stronge coconut taste. So I am pleased to say that these have a high sugar content and have the texture of macaroons. It is a very flexible recipe so feel free to add extras into the bowl or adjust the scale of your cookies; having big thick cookies means they will be chewy all the way th
I really enjoy making these as they are fairly easy and give great results. When I first made these I thought they were going to taste horrible and artificial however I was pleasantly surprised as they actually just taste like normal biscuits. Rainbow Cookies.150g Plain flour60g Caster sugar100g Butter (room temp.)1tbsp Milk (optional)Red, yellow, green and blue food
Succulent fried chicken stuffed with goat's cheese and coated pesto.All of this: wrapped in bacon. It is surprisingly light for a fried dish with such high meat content. I usually serve this dish with a fruity salad, such as my very berry salad, as the sweet flavours really bounce off the pesto and make it seem all the more fresh.This is just one of those meals that taste
This is a fairly simple recipe in which you dye tagliatelle a different colour. I opted for greens and blues, hence the name oceanic ribbons. It has nothing else to do with the ocean, however I am sure it would be nice served with seafood. Actually it is nice served with anything as the food dye doesn’t make the pasta taste any different.Oceanic Ribbons. (Serves 2)Ingredients3 balls of tagli
Foodie Pen Pals, August 2012. It is time to blog about this month's Foodie Pen Pals; if you are unaware of Foodie Pen Pals then I shall give you the ins and outs now…You get given a contact at the beginning of each month and send them a parcel of food related treats by the end of the month. Within the same month your details will be given to someone else so by the end of each month
Parmesan and Poppy Seed Bread.In light of national sandwich month I have made my own bread. This will supply me with tasty sandwiches all through the month of August! This bread is very particular with its fillings as it is packed full of cheese. My favourite sandwich combo so far is pesto and ham trapped in this flavoursome bread. When making your bread (I do it by hand, but it will work with mac
This is a chocolate sensation: all the moistness of brownies with a creamy, crunchy centre. When I first made these I was worried that the peanut butter might melt in the oven but it actually holds its shape well. Now I have been able to create this stripy centre pattern which is a pleasant surprise when you bite into one. You can always mix match with the colours scheme but this is my favou
Sometimes it is just nice to throw conventional out the window when it comes to salads.This is very refreshing and something I have been enjoying all through the summer months. I can indulge myself with juicy berries and bask in the sunlight, what more could you ask for?Very Berry Salad.I use a handful each of my favourite berries: blueberries, raspberries and quartered strawberries. Finish it wit
I finally made a simple marshmallow icing, I can't actually believe I didn't think of this before...Luckily I had just enough clotted cream left over from my Clotted Cream Fudge to create these marshmallow cupcakes. The cakes themselves are very similar to the Simple Cupcakes post; this version of marshmallow icing is the most simplistic one you will find. -With minimum mess and a l
Creamy and crumbly fudge, I will never have to buy fudge again.I have got myself a sugar-thermometer! (I am so happy with it.) Fudge has been on my bucket list for quite a while now and thanks to my sugar thermometer I have finally been able to make it.Clotted Cream Fudge. Ingredients:350g Golden caster sugar120g Golden syrup300g Clotted cream2tsp Vanilla essence1tbsp Vanilla Sugar (optional)Greas
These summer delights will add a great splash of colour to your drink; as the ice-cubes melt they also add a kick of kiwi which nicely compliments lemonade. Kiwi Cubes.Makes approx. 12 cubes.Ingredients1 kiwiStrawberry juice drink (optional)Cut your kiwi in half and scoop out the middle. Cut the green flesh away from the core and discard the latter. Place the kiwi flesh in a bowl and, using the ba
One thing I observed from my trip to Canada is that you can put maple in literally anything. So here is a recipe for tasty maple meat (you will be surprised by how good this actually is) and it has been a big hit with everyone I have served it for!Maple Syrup PorkIngredients1 ½tbsp maple syrup3tsp wholegrain mustard3 cloves garlic (crushed)1tsp rock salt1tsp black pepper1tsp ba
Well that is what I am calling them, although I have used sweet potato instead of Yam and they are not nearly as hot! I going to say ojojo was the inspiration for this creation. (Ojojo is deep fried grated yam and red onion bundles. -A dish which I think originated from Nigeria).Ojojo.Ingredients3tbsp plain flour plus some for dusting1 red onion 1 sweet potato2 cloves garlic2 eggs (beaten)Oil
Today I have a guest chef visiting The Higley Kitchen. I welcomed Matthew to take the lime light of this post with his Bodacious Brownies, which luckily enough for me I got to taste! I can honestly say they are the best brownies I have ever had. That is no exaggeration either; the consistency between gooey centres and spongy exteriors is sublime.I also would like to introduce my second illust
I just feel that this is a skill that everyone should have. They looks so pretty and a dead simple to make! So for all you out there that have asked "How do you...?" -This is how.Butterfly Cakes.First you will need one batch of Simple Cupcakes (previous post) that have been allowed time to cool.Now we shall make the butter icing. Yay…Ingredients 100g butter225g icing sugar1tsp vanilla es
I bought a selection of cupcakes from a summer fair and they have inspired me to relax a little when icing cakes. I usually try to perfect the icing and sprinkles on each cake so they are all identical; but seeing this arrangement of size, colour and texture I think this would be a good way to approach cake decorating in the future. What is enjoyable about this is that they are all
This is not only uber simple to make but its lack of yeast also makes it super speedy! I have published my method of making quick pizza dough because I feel that the internet’s selection isn’t that fantastic. Quick pizza dough.Ingredients 2 tbsp oil (olive is best)200g plain flour 150ml warm water1 tsp salt50g grated parmesan cheese (optional)1 small beaten eggSift the flour into a large bow
The elderflower season has now past, sadly due to all the rain there wasn’t a lot this year, but still enough to make some fragrant cordial. Elderflowers usually flower during the months of May and June but if there are any still growing where you are, I strongly recommend that you pick a big bunch and make this tasty Summer delicacy. Elderflower Cordial(Makes about 2Litres)Ingredients1kg g
These area great light and fluffy treat for the summer weather. A nice meeting point for biscuit and scones, if I do say so myself. The lavender in my garden is in full bloom currently so some seasoned snacks for me! (You can of course use dried lavender for this recipe as well.)Top Tip: With fresh lavender the stalks and leaves have just as much flavour as the flowers.Lavender Bites.&nb
No Yeast Doughnuts. I have wanted to make doughnuts for ages and ages now and never seem to have the time to wait around for the yeast to rise. But worry no more for I have found a solution! I have slightly adapted a recipe for ‘doughnut sticks’ – by The Fabulous Baker Boys. -And now they are super tasty doughnuts. Hurrah! The dough.You will need:400g water2tbsp oil 130g self-raising fl
